Meiyu shared another drink with Yin Long after he finished stating why he ended up picking him, his gaze somewhat distant as he seemed to be enraptured by some nostalgia. He left after he emptied his cup, leaving Yin Long and Jin Wang with the earthenware jug that was still half-full with lightly pink wine. Yin Long followed Meiyu's back as he descended down the stairs, grabbing the jug of wine a few minutes after he left.
"Seems like the proper training is about to start, things ought to get even more fun from here on out."
Yin Long held the jug out at his side and tipped it over while muttering to himself, pouring the remaining wine down Jin Wang's open maw. Jin Wang licked his maw after downing the wine, not even bothering to move as he continued to lie there in a lazy manner. Yin Long put the jug back on the table and then reached down with his hand, ruffling the fur on the lazy cat's head.
"You must be bored out of your mind, being stuck here with me all the time. Soon, soon we'll head out for a trip so that you can eat your fill."
They had already been staying in the dojo for half a month, Yin Long was still fine since there was so much to study, but it was certainly much worse for Jin Wang, a wild and free beast. The faded yellow cat let out some subdued purs in the face of Yin Long's ruffling, a sound he would only make in front of the man he had submitted to. Yin Long ruffled Jin Wang's head for a bit longer before he stood up and stepped away from the table, cracking his neck while bringing out his white sword.
"Alright, since we're here already and it's so deserted, let's aim to step up tonight."
This pagoda contained thousands of years of gathered techniques and experiences of hundreds if not thousands of different cultivators who specialized in light weapons. Each book, scroll, and jade slip contained the life stories and skills of these people, they were imbued with their spirit and a bit of their Qi. As a result, there were few other places in the dojo where the natural Qi was as stained with the scent of weapons as it was here, it was an extremely good place to cultivate any of the laws pertaining to light weapons.
Yin Long grabbed the handle of the sword with both hands and closed his eyes, steading his breathing as he started to swing the sword in a simple manner. The surrounding Qi started to automatically gravitate towards him, the Qi that was tainted by the law of the sword practically rushing at him and eagerly sinking into his body.
He took over control of the Qi when it entered his body and slowly guided it into his soulsea, where it proceeded to sink into the yellow-silver ocean and aid in the nurturing of the seventh yellow-black orb that was rising up from the ocean. About 70% of the orb had risen up from the surface of the ocean so he wasn't too far from the 7th Mortal Door, and tonight he would try to fully raise this orb. The increase in strength wouldn't be all that great, but it would still be a small increase, it would also take him closer to the next cultivation realm, forcing him to think about how he should break into that realm.
Yin Long focused fully on the nurturing of the seventh orb, every bit of Qi he inserted it causing to rise up a bit more. The tainted Qi all around him greatly increased the speed at which it rose up, but the speed was still not quite satisfactory to him. He wasn't quite certain how much time passed as he nurtured the orb, but he was certain that the hours were rapidly ticking away. If he continued at this speed, he felt like he would probably need about three or four more days of cultivation, an unsatisfactory amount of time.
"Guess we'll dip into you, make you spit out some of the rent you owe me."
Yin Long's vision landed on the sky within his soul sea, on the yellowish-black Netherworld energy that covered every inch of it. He didn't use this Netherworld Energy too much, partly due to the fact that there hadn't been many opportunities to use it and partly due to the fact that he was uncertain just how much energy he could draw from it before something strange happened with it.
He touched upon the Netherworld energy with his mind, the usually docile energy starting to shift and toss when he touched it. But the tossing wasn't due to it being riled up, Yin Long could sense that the Netherworld energy actually seemed joyous when he touched it. It wasn't tossing and turning from agitation, it was dancing from sheer joy and ecstasy.
"I really want to talk with Teacher Xiang... He ought to know a thing or two, right?"
Yin Long refused to believe that Bai Xiang didn't know anything about Yin Long, he would have to be an utter idiot to believe something like that. But he had no way of meeting Bai Xiang now, only a small clue about his possible future whereabouts, so no matter how much he wanted to know, he would have to wait patiently.
He ignored the dancing of the Netherworld energy, drawing down a small portion and guiding it into the rising orb. The orb greedily swallowed the energy, sucking it up even faster than it sucked up the Qi containing the law of the sword. Yin Long waited for the orb to absorb all the Netherworld energy and then waited for a bit longer, making sure that there weren't any unexpected changes before he started to draw down more Netherworld energy.
He was very careful as he drew down Netherworld energy, making sure that not an ounce of the energy leaked out of his soulsea, surrounding it with his own Qi at all times. No one had discovered the Netherworld energy despite it residing in his soulsea so he was fairly confident that others wouldn't detect it as long as he didn't allow it to leave his soulsea.
With the combined efforts of both the Netherworld energy and the sword-tainted Qi that he kept absorbing, the seventh orb was rising far faster than before. And as such, the bottom of it swiftly became apparent, rising up from the yellow-silver ocean and ascending into the sky. It joined up with the six other orbs that were revolving around the black-tinted rainbow-coloured sword that was his soul.
With the seventh orb falling into place, it started to radiate Qi that descended into the ocean beneath it, nurturing the ocean and starting the growth of the eighth orb. Yin Long let out a breath and opened his eyes after the orb fell into place, returning his sword to his interspatial ring and clenching his right hand. He could feel a bit more energy course through him, it also flowed a bit more smoothly and moved a bit faster, but it wasn't to an exaggerated degree. While Yin Long was still sensing the increase in energy, a hoarse voice rang out from behind him and caused his body to tense up.
"Are you finally done?"
Yin Long's tensed body eased up slightly when he recognized the owner of the hoarse voice, but he was still somewhat wary as he spun around to look at Meiyu. The middle-aged looking Meiyu was sitting at the table where he and Yin Long had been drinking earlier, two blunt metal swords leaning against the side of his chair. Meiyu stood up from his seat, grabbing the two swords with one hand while pointing at Yin Long's feet with the other.
"Morning and noon have already passed, we're even approaching the end of the afternoon. But thanks to a certain someone, I've had to be somewhat hesitant about waking you from your cultivation."
Yin Long's gaze followed Meiyu's finger and lowered, landing on Jin Wang, who was now standing in front of Yin Long with a sharp expression while baring his fangs. He had probably sensed that Yin Long was going to have a breakthrough in his cultivation and had decided to guard him so that no one woke up him and prevented him from breaking through.
Yin Long flashed a soft smile and ruffled the fur on Jin Wang's head again, allowing his expression to ease up and return to his normal lazy and somewhat disdaining one. He didn't purr this time as there was someone else present, sauntering off to the side and slumping down into a lying position, keeping a close eye on Yin Long and Meiyu. The old instructor glanced sideways at the pale yellow cat, tilting his head for a short second before he returned his gaze to Yin Long and tossed him one of the blunt swords.
"As I said, I've checked your instincts and weaknesses enough. Your instincts are excellent, and as one would expect from a child cursed by the blade, you rapidly fixed your most glaring weaknesses after I pointed them out. So, starting today I'll be teaching you properly in the way of the sword."
Yin Long caught the sword, which turned out to be so heavy that his arm actually sunk slightly. He weighed the sword a few times to get used to it, guessing that it weighed about 40 or so kilos, several tens of times what a normal sword weighed. The weight made it far harder than usual to swing around the sword, requiring a fair bit of effort from Yin Long just to move the weapon. Meiyu gave Yin Long a bit of time to get accustomed to the weight of his sword, leaning his own weapon against his shoulder as he continued talking.
"The thing I'll teach you is my self-created style, Buddha dances in the rain, and the style is actually somewhat similar to how you reacted to most attacks while I checked your instincts. It's a style that suits you well since you aren't the fastest nor the strongest, and it relies on fluidly deflecting attacks and taking advantage of the opening created to swiftly dispatch your enemies. Since it relies on fluid deflections, the most important parts of your body will be your joints, especially your wrists. If your wrists aren't strong enough or fast enough, you won't be able to launch the retaliatory attack."
Meiyu threw an uncorked waterskin into the air as he spoke, the water inside spilling out and raining down upon him. He held his sword with one hand and started to swing it around, his elbow and wrist moving and twisting at a rapid pace as he deflected all the droplets of water, all of them falling to the floor without even touching his robe. He leaned his sword against his shoulder again once he finished the feat, locking eyes with the visibly excited Yin Long.
"You aren't the fastest nor the mightiest, so we'll focus on your defence and bring it up to a realm where it will become both the strongest shield and the strongest sword. Now, do you have any questions before we start?"
Despite asking if he had any questions before they started, Meiyu actually started to approach Yin Long while he was still talking. He hefted his sword and pointed the blunt tip at Yin Long, sending a slow slash at his neck and forcing him to deflect it while stating his question.
"You are approaching the end of your lifespan, right?"
Using the heavy metal sword made it far harder than normal to deflect the attack, resulting in Meiyu simply smashing Yin Long's own sword into the side of his head. Meiyu pulled back his own sword and allowed Yin Long to correct his position somewhat, nodding his head casually as he swung out his sword again.
"Correct, I should have a little over a month left. As such, I can only train you for about four, maybe five weeks, so don't expect too many breaks."
Meiyu had come to terms with the end of his life, he wouldn't have decided to pass along his skills if he hadn't. Yin Long once again tried to deflect the incoming attack, which was aimed quite a bit lower than his head this time. But once again he was thwarted by the weight of his weapon, only managing to push the attack up so that it hit his shoulder instead, his eyes narrowing faintly as he gave his actual question.
"The rule that those at the Earthly Doors realm only become aged and decrepit during the last week of their lifespan, is it inviolable?"
Meiyu had about the same cultivation as his parents, so if he would only end up decrepit then it should have been the same for his parents. But his parents had shown the signs of their age far earlier, becoming bedridden and decrepit much earlier than the appointed time. Meiyu once again gave Yin Long a short moment to adjust himself, wearing a somewhat pondering expression as he sent out another attack and responded.
"Inviolable? Not quite, they're rare, but there are some exceptions. One example would be if they're wounded, those wounds would result in their Qi dissipating faster so that they become decrepit much earlier. Of course, these wounds would have to be incredibly serious, otherwise, the cultivator could have just healed them earlier."
Yin Long worked on deflecting the attack, mentally noting down the reasoning that Meiyu provided him. He hadn't heard anything about his parents having any wounds, but he couldn't discard the idea either. Meiyu's attack once again hit him after he failed to deflect, a meaty thud coming from his thigh while Meiyu continued to talk.
"Another example would be if there's something sapping their Qi or lifeforce, that too would result in them becoming decrepit earlier. But this is incredibly noticeable to the people in question, so anything sapping their lifeforce would be swiftly removed, making it among the rarer cases."
Meiyu pulled back his sword, giving Yin Long a few seconds to adjust himself again. But the time he gave him to adjust himself had shortened somewhat, forcing Yin Long to adjust himself even faster as Meiyu continued to talk and attack.
"Another example would be if they willing expend a large amount of their Qi and lifeforce towards the end of their lifespan, for example during a large fight or to power a grand array for some reason. This is usually the most common case, older cultivators doing their best to protect their sect or family before they fade away."
Dull thuds continued to ring out from Yin Long's body as Meiyu showered him with attacks that slowly became relentless, barely giving him time to adjust himself. He was forcing Yin Long to get accustomed to the weight of the weapon, forcing his wrist to slowly strengthen while he himself continued to answer Yin Long's question, occasionally also throwing out some advice on how he could improve his stance and fluidity.
"The final example I can think of is also among the rarer cases and it requires the cultivator to cultivate two opposing laws. Say they have the law of fire and water for example, if they become unable to properly control them then those laws might fight against each other, sapping away at the strength of the cultivator at a rapid pace."
When will he try to learn more about his law of space...